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Notable Alumni

Summer 2023

Cougar X winemaker Cameron Rushton (and his wine tasting tips)

Cameron Rushton is happy to sip other winemakers’ whites. But when it comes to crafting his own wine, he sticks to his specialty: robust reds.

Rushton (’10 Hort.), co-owner and assistant winemaker at Five Star Cellars in Walla Walla and creator of Cougar X, makes the wines he especially enjoys pairing with a juicy steak. Cabernet franc tops his list of varietals. Merlot is right up there, too. He also likes tempranillo, malbec, and sangiovese—big, bold, highly ageable reds.

“I don’t make a lot of white,” he says. “I’d rather drink everybody else’s”—Poet’s Leap by Long Shadows Vintners, for example. “I … » More …

Spring 2023

Helen Szablya in her own words

Helen Szablya’s recent memoir details her escape from Communism in her native Hungary, her time at Washington State University, and then her roles as an honorary consul to Hungary.

Szablya and her family fled their home country of Hungary and its Communist regime in a harrowing journey under the cover of night in 1956.

They traveled to Austria, Canada, and then to Pullman, Washington, where Helen received a degree, her husband John was an engineering professor, and they raised their family.

She tells the full story in the second volume of her memoir, From Refugee to Consul. Adriana Janovich, associate editor of Washington State Magazine, … » More …